


Shining Scales and Roaring Waves

by MichaelMell (GalacticTwink)



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Game, Boys Kissing, Drowning, M/M, Magic, Merstuck, Near Death, Soulmates, Strilalondes, Trans Dave, Trans Dave Strider, dave being an idiot, john being stupid, lowkey rosemary, mermaid John, wiccan rose
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-19
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-09-18 14:38:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9389519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalacticTwink/pseuds/MichaelMell
Summary: Dave was already stupid enough to go headfirst into the water, but after recounting his near death to his sister, she convinces him to be an even bigger idiot than he usually is. Mermaids aren't even real, are they? Even if they are, Dave is sure that one of them wouldn't be so attracted to him to come once let alone twice. But, sometimes a leap of faith feels more like a plunge, and sometimes that plunge is the best thing that could happen to you.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RosesMayCry](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosesMayCry/gifts).



> For one of my favourite artists, I hope you like it!!

"Shit, I thought I saw something.” Dave could've sworn he'd seen a fish in the water a second ago, it couldn't be gone that fast. He steps up onto the dock, the wood practically swaying under his feet with every step and making him dizzy enough to fall on his face like an idiot. He didn't fall in the water, thank god, but he was damn near head first in the cloudy water staring him in the face.   
“Ah, fuck-” he grabs onto the wood, trying to pull himself back and making the thing sway even more like the bad piece of construction it is. His glasses splash into the water, leaving Dave all but blinded in the sunlight and squinting straight down at his own reflection in the water.   
“Damn it, this shit can't be that deep can it? I'm right next to the beach.” He leans over the edge of the still moving dock, fingers meeting their reflection and rippling the water that had been displaying Dave’s freckles face to dip beneath the water and try to find his shades that are far beyond his grasp, even as he leans further in to try and feel through the dense water and find something solid. He thinks he can feel something, inching forward a bit more to take a grab at it and- Dave splashes into the water head first, doing a somersault in the water as he flails his arms and tries to break surface again and get air in his lungs. His arms are hitting the surface of the water hard, legs kicking out in directions they shouldn't be and making Dave start to feel tired even after only being in the water for maybe a minute. He reaches up with one hand, searching for the dock he'd fallen off of in the first place, but his fingers glance off the bottom edge; just shy of being able to grab onto the structure. He's making an attempt at something that resembles swimming, a wave wiping away any hope of having a clear shot back to the beach; the undertow pulling his head beneath the water and more crashing over him, dashing any attempt to break surface again. He gets close, but not close enough, water filling Dave’s mouth past his lips that had barely been opened in hope of getting even a small breath. Without any air at all in his lungs to circulate, Dave can already see his field of vision blurring around the edges, everything going hazy and his suddenly very heavy arms slowing and stuttering to a halt. Is he moving? Everything is already going numb in the cold water, contact to something on his arm all but lost on Dave. He can't feel anything but the beating of his own heart, arms pulled up over his head and lungs almost forgetting how to react when they hit oxygen again. He's still not completely aware of what's going on, body reacting on its own to try and keep him alive and keep everything working; lungs making him cough and sputter trying to eject the water that had filled them in place of what they really wanted. His shirt isn't covering the front of his chest, making the hair on his arms stand up as cold hands touch his bare skin and try to move aside his binder; getting to his chest and pushing down to help the water leave Dave’s mouth and help him breathe the air again as he breathes it in. He forces open his eyes, the sunlight blinding him and making the already existing dizziness worse by at least ten figures.   
"Oh, god-” now that Dave can move he half sits up, mostly falling to his side to cough and throw up in the sand; effectively getting rid of the rest of the water he'd swallowed. His shades are lying just beside Dave’s legs, which he picks up and pushes over his eyes to dull the ache from the bright light cast by the sun overhead.   
“What the fuck?” He's starting to come back to his senses, looking down to see why he's so cold to find his binder ridden up above his chest and the buttons of his shirt pulled apart.   
“Did I get fucking molested or mugged or some shit?” Dave fixes his clothes, though some of the buttons on his shirt are broken. All of his shit is still in his pockets, and his shorts are still in tact without being unbuttoned or even touched presumably.   
“Well, if I fell in the water..” the blonde doesn't see anyone around, eyes skimming over his surroundings and looping back around to mostly legible handwriting in the sand that should read ‘be more careful’ if Dave is deciphering it correctly. He looks back around, eyes catching movement out in the water but he only sees what's probably the tail of a big fish as it reenters the water. Well shit, whoever helped him out must've gotten the hell out of dodge before Dave woke up and honestly he couldn't blame them.   
“Dave?” He looks up to his name, his sister holding her shoes in one hand as she makes her way down the sand to him.   
“Did you decide to go for a swim? You're soaking wet.” Rose stops beside her brother, looking down at him with a calculating look that definitely means she's psychoanalysing him.   
“I fell in, I'm fine.” Dave stands up, knees knocking together for a moment before he regains his balance. He gets a look, the amber eyes of his twin looking him up and down before glancing out over the ocean water in front of them.   
“Not that I don't believe you Dave, but I don't believe you. You avoid water like you avoid country music. And from the looks of you, it was either a very eventful afternoon or you went and drowned yourself trying to get your hands on a dead fish or something. Please tell me you got lucky.” The blonde is still looking out at the water, half listening to his sister while he searches for whatever he saw.   
“Hey Rose, does anything big live in here? This close to the beach.” She gives him a look, following Dave’s gaze with her own to make sure there's nothing there.   
“Do you believe in mermaids, Dave?” She gets a light smack on the arm for that, her brother turning his head back to look at her with a probably pissed glare in his covered eyes.   
“What the fuck, Rose, I'm being serious.”   
“So am I. I've never seen one, but Kanaya has. She's told me all about them, and really they're fascinating. Did you see one? They're rather distinct, though they appear to have varying tail patterns and shapes to some degree.” Dave blinks at her, not sure if he should be taking this shit seriously or if she's just messing with him.   
“All I saw was a tail, Rose. It was a goddamned fish. Stop fucking with me with you Wicca mermaid bullshit.” Rose takes Dave by the wrist, pulling him down the beach a ways to take him onto the newer and much more stable dock that has boats tied to it.   
“Get in Dave, come on, I'm Interested in a fish big and self conscious enough to save your life.” She pushes him into a boat, climbing in and pushing the automatic start button which is really a bad idea. They'll bring the boat back, it's fine.   
“Where did you fall off? Do you know how far out you went?”   
“Rose this is stupid, it wasn't a mermaid.” She's calculating, watching the waves and placing a teenager in Dave’s age and weight range getting caught easily by the undertow and ending up somewhere around…  
“Here. Take off most of your clothes and jump in. This beach is empty this time of day, with everyone at work and not a great deal of kids to wander over. You'll drown faster in that thing.” Rose cuts the motor, making sure everything is clear before looking back at Dave.   
“What-did you actually lose your mind? I already almost died once today, isn't that enough? Even if it was a damn mermaid like you want it to be, why would it come back to save my sorry ass again?” The Wiccan sighs, sitting down again to face Dave like she always does when she's going to tell him something pointless.   
“Merfolk limit their contact to humans as much as possible. No helping sinking ships, no helping drowning people, no exposing themselves by going above surface. Unless, they're so enchanted with a human they would let the land-goer see them. To enchant a mermaid is something you can't do, it's done for you. By your soul and your spirit, and your being. To draw a mermaid is nearly impossible, but they are remarkable persistent if you have. Your soul is individual and unique, and the mer you've entranced so will be able to feel it hit the water. If it was one of course.” Rose has always been quite the storyteller; Dave can feel himself wanting to believe her already. His sister is a certified lifeguard..   
“Fuck, fine, just to get you to shut up. You'd better haul me back on the boat before I die.” He takes off his shades so he doesn't lose them again, refusing to take off anything else before he steps straight off the side of the boat. It's like the water opens up to let him in, feet cutting an opening for him and the cold, rushing water closing back up over his head. Fuck, this was a bad idea. Dave hadn't taken good enough a breath, and damn are his clothes heavy with all this water around him. Shit, Rose had better get in here before- fingers close around Dave's forearm, jerking him and pulling him further down away from where he'd come rather than up to the surface. He would've shouted if that wouldn't kill him, eyes opening so he can at least give his sister… not his sister. Unless Rose has a five foot tail she never told him about. How shit. It's real, moving in time with how one would kick their legs, the yellow find at the end flicking with every stroke that brings them to a faster speed; making the scales shimmer even in the dark and getting dimmer lighting of the water.   
“What the hell, are you stupid or something?” It talks when they break surface in what's probably a cave with an air pocket, thrusting Dave up onto the semi smooth rock face and gifting him a few scrapes.   
“Learn how to swim or stay out of the water, unless you have a death wish.” It, no definitely he, is evidently pissed at Dave; bare chest unnaturally pale and unmoving, the slits at his throat moving like a mouth would to breathe.   
"Look, I didn't fuckin ask you to haul my ass out of the water.” He's glad he responded hostility, making the mermaid need to pull himself up out of the water to smack him lightly across the face. It was worth it, because damn. In the limited lighting, the scales of his tail almost seem to glow with an unnatural silver light; something resembling a second set of yellow fins near his hips fluttering in the open air every few seconds to draw Dave's attention away from the stunning tail and back to the mer himself. He has scales on his arms too, and patches on all his exposed skin including his face for the blonde to see. He catches Dave's eyes, the rich red of his practically reflecting in the pale blue iris’ of the other, barely any colour there to begin with though they seem to glow just as much as his scales do. The black hair is a shock of rich colour, darker than anything else on his body and complementing his paler shades angelicly.   
"John. You're Dave, aren't you?” Be breaks the spell by opening his mouth, an underused and soft voice telling Dave his own name before he'd said it himself.   
“Yeah, that's right. How'd you know it? It looks like that's what John wanted him to say, a smile revealing fang like teeth as the mer reaches out to touch Dave. His fingers touch hair first, then slide down the skin of his cheek to skim over the neck and pause; laying the open palm of his hand on the human’s chest. He lights up like a Christmas tree, blue jumping and swirling out from Dave's chest to meet John's fingers and whisper to him.   
“I could hear it. Here, do you want to hear mine?” When John takes his hands away, the glow is still there, still enchanting Dave and distracting him as the mer picks up his hand and presses it to the other’s bare chest. He's cold, and still damp, but all that leaves Dave's senses as soon as he feels the warmth that springs up under his fingers; warming his entire body and lighting up the cavern with gold.   
"What..” he can hear it. Like the metaphorical angel on his shoulder, he can hear whatever's in that light loud and clear like it's speaking for him and only him.   
“That's my soulvoice you're hearing, so that makes what you're touching my soul. It came out to say hi to you. It's been waiting a long time for that.” Dave laughs at what he's hearing, meeting John's eyes again with that grin still on his face.   
“I think, it wants me to kiss you.”  
“Huh, yours is saying the same thing.”

**Author's Note:**

> I've been thinking of doing a full merstuck fic after my psiisign one, so this was awesome practice! I think it turned out pretty well, and I hope out do too!!


End file.
